Civil War Washington

Case from the case-book of the SECOND DIVISION of the ALEXANDRIA HOSPITAL, Virginia, Surgeon Edwin Bentley, U. S. V., in charge. Autopsy was made and recorded in the case-book by Acting Assistant Surgeon Thomas Bowen:

CASE 463.—Private George Roberts, company H, 59th Massachusetts volunteers; age 46; admitted from the depot hospital of the 9th Corps, City Point, Virginia, October 22, 1864. Chronic diarrhœa. Died, February 7, 1865. Autopsy seventeen hours after death: Rigor mortis very great; body greatly emaciated; slight suggillation posteriorly. Head, neck, and spinal column not examined. Both pleuræ were coated with recently deposited lymph. There were old adhesions of the lower lobe of the left lung, slight adhesions of the upper lobe of the right; extensive deposits of tubercle in the upper lobes of both lungs, and two large cavities in the upper lobe of the right; the middle and lower lobes of this lung were congested; there was also a small cavity in the lower lobe of the left lung. The bronchial glands were enlarged, black and softened. The pericardium contained an ounce of serum. The heart was normal. The omentum was congested. The liver was pale and flabby, apparently in a state of fatty degeneration; the gall-bladder contained half an ounce of bile. The spleen was normal in size, but softened. The mesenteric glands were enlarged and filled with softened tubercle. The mucous membrane of the small intestine was thickened and rough. [?] There were several small ulcers in Peyer's glands. The colon was normal. The kidneys were pale and soft; on examination with the microscope they were found to be in a state of fatty degeneration; the bladder contained six ounces of urine.